Anna Walmsley

Anna is an Airforce engineer-turned-community-development worker, wife to one sky-bound pilot, and mum to three children, who, through no plan of her own, has found herself home-schooling (eek!), working and sharing life in a remote indigenous community in North East Arnhem Land, Australia.

Anna Walmsley reflects on her time living and working among the Yolgnu people in the remote community of Raminging in Arnhem land.

Life out here is a lot of hard, interspersed with intense and wonderful moments, and many people ask me… why on earth would you live there?

In the beginning, this question was a difficult one to answer.  The flights we provide (as part of MAF) give much needed access to services for the outstations, as well as making the work of many government and non-government agencies possible. But the flying here is neither as dramatic or obvious a humanitarian service as that of other MAF operations worldwide. There are also other carriers here — although many do not last much past 5 years — and Arnhem Land is supported by the excellent services of a developed nation — albeit few that are culturally appropriate. Health, policing, welfare are all available. So why? Why come here?

The longer we stay, however, the clearer it becomes. So in answering this question, I would like to introduce you to my friend and yapa (sister) Gadiki.

Gadiki is a single Mum to a beautiful 10 year old girl, Vashti (Wamutjan). She is a strong, capable woman with a strong faith who takes it one step further by choosing to be a key actor in the Ramingining church and community. I (Anna) first met Gadiki at an evening service where she walked up to me and told me she needed someone to help her with her Nungalinya (Bible college) homework, and she had had a dream where God had told her I was the person to ask.  I said she was welcome to come around any time, and she promptly did.

Since then we have shared many things including our love of gospel dancing (I can’t see anyone who couldn’t enjoy this!!).  I have shared my Internet, my administration skills, my cooking, my help and my knowledge of all things balanda (western culture).  She has shared her hunting skills, her love of her culture, her child-minding skills, her energy, and her dance routines. We have shared our lives and our faith, learning and growing together. She has been incredibly open to me about her struggles and willing to sit and answer my many deep and possibly prying questions about Yolngu ways of doing things.  But life for Gadiki is not easy.

Overcrowded housing, chronic disease, malnutrition, substance abuse, early death, domestic violence, and suicide: these are not just headlines, they are the daily reality for many here. But while this reads like a situation to be found in a less developed country, we do not live in a place of absolute poverty. People do not go hungry here for a lack of money or food. No, what exists here is a different type of poverty.

The clash of ‘white’ on ‘black’ has lead to today’s Yolngu living in an almost no-man’s-land of grey. No longer is Yolngu Rom the only law governing the land. Every day they must interact with a completely foreign and mostly unforgiving system that presents obstacle after obstacle in the path of many leading the life of their choosing. The result has been that, out of frustration, confusion, or shame, many give up.  “Want a job? Great, can you tell me your tax file number?” What’s that???; “Want a tax file number? No worries we need a birth certificate. What? You don’t have one?”; “Feeling sick and need help? Here is top-rate care but NONE of it is in your language.”; “What about food. Are you hungry? Sure, there is a shop. But with a myriad of food that is either not good for you or you don’t know how to cook.”

Feel a bit overwhelmed? I know I do, and this is their reality day in and day out.

So why are we here? For people like Gadiki.  Like all Ramingining families, she ‘lives‘ in a 3 bedroom house with up to 16 other people in it. She recently built herself her own tin house with no air conditioning  or front door to give her and her daughter space.  She has struggled with feelings of desperation, continual humbug by people wanting anything and everything she has (food, money, clothes), violence, illness and death.

Despite this all, she has hope and hungers for her children, her family, her people to be strong in the future, and she works tirelessly to make this happen.

Life for Gadiki is not easy, and hers is a story echoed throughout Ramingining and Arnhem Land; but unlike many, she chooses to strive for change.  It is people like her that present the glimmers of hope for the Yolngu to stand up into the future. But these few need people to help provide a bridge to the unknown balanda world… and it is here we find ourselves.

We are doing nothing more than offering friendship, the knowledge of our way of life that we take for granted, and our support when the burden of life here gets too heavy — a proverbial wind break to the small sparks of Arnhem Land, which will hopefully one day set the whole place ablaze with a strong people restored.

 If you would like to donate to Anna and Scott’s work, please follow this link to the MAF website.

Maria Ramos

Maria is a writer interested in comic books, cycling, and horror films. Her hobbies include cooking, doodling, and finding local shops around the city. She currently lives in Chicago with her two pet turtles, Franklin and Roy. You can follow her on Twitter @MariaRamos1889.

The Walking Dead has been a popular and well-known zombie phenomenon since its initial launch in 2011 and is still going strong with its sixth season set to premiere this fall. Its most known for its riveting and tough characters but the women of this hit show have long been a contentious subject among fans. Many have agreed that the female characters are often undermined by men and continuously step aside so that Rick or Daryl can have their time in the spotlight. But now that the show’s companion series Fear the Walking Dead has premiered, will it follow in its predecessor’s footsteps or take its female characters in a new direction?

Though women are prominent among the landscape of The Walking Dead, it has been often commented that their characters are one dimensional at best. Rick’s wife Lori was seen as a whiny, pushy, adulterous instigator who was as likely to cause trouble as help prevent it. Andrea was also argumentative and pushy, and, while she seemed to start off somewhat strong, lost most of her direction as her story progressed. Carol has been one of the few regular female characters on the show who has gone through a real period of growth and evolution. She started out a somewhat timid wife, married to an abusive man and desperate to keep her daughter safe. However, she ultimately lost both her husband and child. These losses changed her over time into a much darker, much sharper individual, until she became one of the most dangerous – and most interesting to watch – characters on the show.

 So far, Fear the Walking Dead has presented two possible female leads to rival those found on its parent series: Madison Clark and her daughter Alicia. Madison is a school counselor and administrator, a mother of two, a divorcee, and a girlfriend. Her actions show the caring and motherly aspects we expect but she comes across as a little unsure of her own feelings in regards to how she is doing as a parent. She also doesn’t necessarily listen when people tell her things she doesn’t want to hear, and doesn’t stay behind when people try to keep her safe. It looks like they’re setting her up to be something of a cross between Lori and Andrea from the original show, which might not be the best direction to take her, as they were not necessarily the most liked characters of The Walking Dead.

Her daughter Alicia isn’t as developed as she could be at this stage of the game. She has the makings of a bitter and angsty teenager who’s constantly disappointed in her family. In the first episode of the series, Alicia seems to spend half her dialogue reiterating how desperate she is to get away from home. Although it seems that she’s ultimately a smart kid and the “good” child of the family, it’s hard to find her likeable when she spends so much time hating everything that surrounds her.

While other female characters have made appearances in Fear the Walking Dead, only time will tell if they were important enough to the series to be brought back for more screentime – and if that screen time will show them to be more than one dimensional. Even Madison and Alicia still have that to prove after the first episode. Maddie has shown us little but her tough-as-nails, wanting-to-take-charge attitude (except for a brief show of insecurity over her missing drug-addicted son), and Alicia has predominantly just acted like a regular teenager. The show may seem to believe it is female character friendly, but it doesn’t even pass the Bechdel Test. It may
have two women characters talking to each other, but all of the interactions so far seem to have been centered around men, instead of focusing on any other issue.

Fear the Walking Dead may not have had the most promising start when it comes to female characters, but that doesn’t mean the potential isn’t there to see that change. Maddie could find her softer side, Alicia could drop the teen angst act, and the few other women introduced briefly could play a much bigger role in the story to come. Both shows are available on AMC through cable TV, so make sure you don’t miss any more of the zombie fun and character developments. Only time and more episodes will prove if this series will follow in The Walking Dead‘s footsteps or not.

Marianne de Pierres

Marianne is an author, blogger, writing educator and cake tragic. 

Hi there friends!

Thought I might pop in with some updates on various things.

Mythmaker release is drawing close (October 6th), and you can read an extract from the book over at CARABAS‘s blog. If you’re signed up to NETGALLEY you can download a full review copy of the novel.

Meanwhile, aside from working on my Master’s, I’m writing the next Tara Sharp novel. It’s so much fun being back with her, Wal, Tozzi, Smitty, Bok, Ed, Cass and the gang. This time Tara is having a hard time keeping Garth Wilmot out of trouble, Henry’s not speaking to her on account of the broken nose episode, and the guys in her life are proving high maintenance. The book will be released around October/November next year by Twelfth Planet Press.

You can read my letter to my teen self at DEAR TEEN ME, and a recent interview I did with Angela Slatter.

Here’re a couple of upcoming workshops I’ll be running. Speaking in Tongues: harnessing narrative voice for the QWC. Then in October, I’m running a Speculative Fiction Masterclass for the ACT Writers Centre.

And next weekend you can find me at COMIC CON. I’ll have a stall to myself, so make sure you come past and say hello.

Lastly, and mostly, I’ll be GOH at GENRECON in October. Please come to the con and celebrate Aussie genre fiction.

And after all that fun, I’m heading stateside to World Fantasy Con. Can’t wait to see my long time friend Anne Bishop, and make some new acquaintances.

Best of all though I get to see my son play basketball for his college team in New York — the St Thomas Aquinas College Spartans.

Life is a blessing!